The Little Mermaid (UK VHS 1996)
The Little Mermaid is a UK VHS. This was Distributed by Disney Videos. Plot Disney's twenty-eighth animated feature is its first fairytale since 1958's 'Sleeping Beauty'. Ariel (voiced by Jodi Benson) is the mermaid daughter of King Triton, and lives beneath the waves. However, Ariel longs to see the world above, especially after rescuing a handsome prince from drowning. To this end she makes a deal with sea witch Ursula: Ariel can live above the sea in exchange for her beautiful singing voice. Ariel soon regrets her decision, however, when it transpires that her father's kingdom is at risk. From the moment that Prince Eric's ship emerged from the fog in the opening credits of The Little Mermaid in 1989 it was apparent that Disney had somehow, suddenly recaptured a "magic" that had been dormant for 30 years. In the tale of a headstrong young mermaid who yearns to "spend a day, warm on the sand", Ariel trades her voice to Ursula, the Sea Witch (classically voiced by Pat Carroll), for a pair of legs. Ariel can only succeed if she receives true love's kiss in a few day's time and she needs all the help she can from a singing crab named Sebastian, a loudmouth seagull and a flounder. The lyrics and music by song-writing team Howard Ashman and Alan Menken are top form: witty and relevant, and they advance the story (go on, hum a few bars of "Under the Sea"). Mermaid put animation back on the studio's "to do" list and was responsible for ushering 1991's Beauty and the Beast into cinemas. A modern Disney classic. Notes * Voices: Jodi Benson as Ariel, Christopher Daniel Barnes as Prince Eric, Pat Carroll as Ursula, Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, Jason Marin as Flounder, Kenneth Mars as King Triton, Buddy Hackett as Scuttle, Ben Wright as Grimsby, René Auberjonois as Chef Louis, Paddi Edwards as Flotsam and Jetsam, Edie McClurg as Carlotta, Will Ryan as The Seahorse Herald, and Frank Welker as Max the Sheepdog * Release Date: 24th December 1996 * Distributed by Disney Videos Opening Previews (UK) # Blue Warning screen # Closed Captions screens # Coming Soon to a Cinema Near You # Hercules 1996 teaser trailer # Coming Soon from Disney Videos # Aladdin and the King of Thieves trailer # Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco trailer # Oliver and Company trailer # Muppet Treasure Island trailer # The Santa Clause trailer # Toy Story trailer (Coming to Life on Video) # Also Available from Disney Videos # Pinocchio trailer # Walt Disney Classics 1995 trailer # The Jungle Book trailer # The Return of Jafar trailer # The Aristocats trailer # Bambi trailer # Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs trailer # 101 Dalmatians trailer # The Hunchback of Notre Dame trailer (Coming Soon version) # Stay Tuned # Disney Videos logo # Walt Disney Pictures logo # Start of The Little Mermaid (1989) Closing Previews (UK) # End of The Little Mermaid (1989) # Walt Disney Pictures logo silent # McDonald's The Little Mermaid 1989 Commercial # Also Available from Disney Videos # The New Adventures of The Little Mermaid 1993 trailer # The New Adventures of The Little Mermaid 1995 trailer # Disney's Sing-Along Songs 1995 trailer # Beauty and the Beast trailer # Sleeping Beauty trailer # Coming Soon from Disney Videos # Disney Videos 1996 trailer 2 Category:UK VHS and DVD releases